Adjustable open-top horse-collar



APPHCATION FILED OCT. 12, 1920.

Patented No'v. 1921,

3 SHEETS-SHEET].

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C. ROSS.

ADJUSTABLE 0PEN.TOP HORSE COL LAR.

APPHCATION FILED OCT- IZ, 1920.

Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEETZ.

C. ROSS.

ADJUSTABLE OPEN TOP HORSE COLLAR.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-12. 1920- 1,3 97,748. Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 32 Adjustable PATENT rice.

CHARLES BOSS, 015 BLAIR, NEBRASKA.

ADJUSTABLE OPEN-TOP HORSE-COLLAR.

Application filed October 12, 1920.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, CHARLES Ross, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Blair, in the county of Washington and State of Nebras ra, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Open-Top Horse-Collars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in horse collars that are openable at the top for application and adjustment to a horses neck and shoulders. -While it may be advantageously applied with any style of open topped horse-collar, this contrivance is believed to perform its most beneficial functions when used in combination with horse-collars of the sweeny type, shown and described in my Patent No. 981,006, January 10, 1911, horse collar.

I One of the objects of this invention, is to supplement the lateral or width adjustment, which in collars 01 this full flexible sweeny type is attained by the applied hames with their top and bottom straps or other couplings, by also usin a vertical. or longitudinal adjustment. Such length adjustment is articularly desired to meet the varied COIIL itions of any individual horse at different seasons of the year, as well as the changes occurring during the growth of young immatured animals.

Another object is to further extend and increase the length and lateral pliableness of the opposed top ends of the sides of the sweeny type of collar, without increasing the transverse fiexibleness, that is, iorward and backward, atthe vertex of the coupled "adjustedand arched top; and to provide efiicient permanently attached means to overcome the tendency of the tops of the hames and their coupling, to drift forward out of the exterior groove'between the forewale and after-Wale of the collar in this top of increased length and lateral flexibility.

A further object is the attainment of a permanently attached eflicient weather cap or housing-plate, well ventilated, automatic in its'application at any adjustment of the vertex of the arched collar top and without additional expense over the requisite outlay to attain the other desirable features.

These and other minor structural objects hereinafter more clearly set forth, and the novel elemental features of which are re- Specification of Letters Patent.

oi the collar, all the and Fig.

Patented Nov. 22,1921. Serial No. 416,548.

cited in the finally appended claims, I have attained by the means and mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings in in which Figure 1, is a longitudinal section through the after-Wale of a fractional top portion of such a collar, coupled at its position of largest adjustment andthe view taken on the broken line 1 of Figs. 2 and a; Fig. 2, a fragmental transverse section of the attached extension cap, taken on the broken lines 2 and 3 of Figs. 1 and 3; Fig. 3, a perspective top and front view of the permanently connected parts of the collar, opened at the top and the ordinary inner pressed leather a perspective front and top view of the complete assembled collar, closed to its smallest adjustment with the inner top or neck-pad attached; Fig. 5, a front elevation parts complete and assembled with the regular pressed-leather inside neck-pad applied and the collar adjusted to its smallest size; Fig. 6, a back elevation 01' the collar as adjusted in Fig. 5;

7, is a View similar the pressed leather chafer pad omitted. In all of these views similar reference numerals denote like parts and the arrow heads indicate the direction in which the section views are taken.

In the construction of the previously patented horse collar, mentioned above, a throat part and the sweeny parts or tops of the sides are stuffed with short fine fibrous filling, as cut straw or chaff to augment their pliability for adjustment, easy fitting and easy service. So in the construction of this invention, the sweenys or tops of the afterovales 8 and the adjacent tops of the iorewale or rim 9, both being the parts particularly improved and combined with the new features of this invention, are stuffed with a modified fine fibrous filler, to facilitate the required adaptation and are of structure as follows:

Very short top portions 10 of the wales have the inner and outer walls disposed flatly together without fillings, to properly close these top ends and are secured by stitching as shown. The fillin immediately below these closed ends is a selected long uncut fibrous material 11. It is first inserted in meager quantity and retains its position,

to Fig. 6, with or inner necking. Below ranged endwise up and down, in these thin parts, of the cavities that are stufied, where a sparse quantity of cut or short libered filler has a tendency to settle or shift downwardly, if it is not too solidly packed. As the stuffing progresses, filling the cavity from the top downwardly, the quantity of filling is increased by'the intermixture of the cut or short material until such size of cavity is approached. as will carry the short or cut material 12 used alone, and stand up to the service required and give the desired flexibility of the sweenys. The change from long to fine or short filling is made gradually and the two thoroughly incorporated so that no appearance of splice will be developed on the exterior or in the completed collar by any subsequent hard service.

A combined housing-plate and adjusting overlap or extension plate 13 is made rectangularly oblong of two thicknesses of heavy pliable but firm quality of harness leather. The inner. layer 14 and outer layer 15 are of equal size, slightlyrounded at the corners and sewed together by seam adjacent to the-corresponding edges clear around. In width this plate is not less than the width of the closed top ends of the sides of the collar, to one of which top ends one end 16 of the plate is attached by overlapping said plate end onto the outside thereof and then stitched or riveted therethrough, as shown. At the opposite or free end of the plate the top end of a long heavy billet 17 is inserted between the layers of the plate toward the back edge thereof and secured by the seam uniting the layers of the plate and by riveton the outside of the adjacent side after-Wale a suitable buckle 187with tuck loop is attached to receive and secure the billet. When this billet is buckled down to its farthest extent, as shown in Figs. l, 5 and 7, bringing the opposite closed side tops together, the collar is fastened at its position of mallest adjustment; and may be let out to any desired larger size within the range of the overlap of the free end of the adjusting housing plate onto the adjacent overlapped collar side. At any adjustment the heavy laminate plate readily bends to form a new vertex of the arched top, and in so bending assumes or forms a straighttransverse section, as shown in Fig. 2, of suificient rigidity to resist the down draft of the top hame coupling thereon.

An upstanding heavy ledge 19, disposed longitudinally along a central portion of the front edge of the housing plate, prevents the hame strap or other hame. coupling from shifting forward 0d of the housing and as sists the hames to retain the very pliable top parts of the sides of thecollar in correct vertical alinementwhen the collar is let out to its largest size. This ledge is made by inserting the two thick strips of leather 20 between the front edges of the layers 14: and 15, as shown in Fig. 2, and stitching through them when the layers are seamed together. When the completed plate is bent in adjustment it is obvious that the outer layer more readily stretches and yields to this added thickness and forms the desired outside ledge, of sufiicient length for any adjustment and in position as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and l. T 0 further support and stay the top I use an ordinary still pressed-leather chafe or neck-pad 21, having a transverse metal reinforcing plate 22 with regular attaching straps 23; one of these straps is inserted through the flat loop-strip 24L vto retain the pad when the top of the collar is opened by unbuckling the large billet 17; said loop-stripvbeing fastened to the outer surface of the after-Wale carrying theattached end of the housing plate, in the usual manner of applying such chafe pads.

In operation :-It is obvious that the heavy laminated extension plate is resistant to edgewise strain that occur in service and tend to distort the horrible adjustably lengthened topsof the/sides; I

That the new top or arch vertex, formed by the fiatwise longitudinal bend oftheplate for any new size adjustment, andretained thus bent by the lateral compression of the applied hames,becomes avaulted top made sufiiciently rigid by this longitudinal bending and lateral hame compression, to preserve the desired shape and form of the con nected sides and top of the collar. 7

And, that the billeted end of the extension plate when slid downwardly. toward the buckle, for smaller adjustment of the collar, will, thus longitudinally straightened, readily bend transversely and be forced into the outer groove of the collar between the rim and the after-Wale by the applied ham-e, rendering this open side as stable for service as the opposite permanently-connected side and end.

It will be understood that the required adjustments of the size of the collar are infrequent: only occurring, when the collar is first appliedfor service, when hard work or disorder has reduced the animals flesh,

a young horse has outgrown his first collar fitting, or when it becomes expedient to fit the collar on another animal. In the intervening periods of service, the extension plate becomes set to its fitted shape of top' inclosed neck of the animal from rain or snow.

I claim:

1. An adjustable open top horse collar, comprising integral flexible throat and sides, a laminate connecting plate of firm heavy harness leather stitched together flatwise attached to the top of one collar side to bend flatwise to form a substantially rigid arch across the open top and to overlap the opposite collar side, narrow laminae added to form an upstanding ledge on the front edge of said connecting plate, a long billet on the free end toward the back edge of said connecting plate, and a buckle on the outside of the after-Wale of the adjacent collar side to engage said billet.

2. An adjustable open top horse collar, comprising integral throat and flexibletopped sides, an oblong rectangular connecting plate composed of two thicknesses of firm heavy harness leather fastened together, one end of said plate fastened to the top end of one of the collar sides, adapted to bend fiatwise to form a substantially rigid arch to close the open top of the collar and overlap the opposite collar side, additional thickness of leather fastened between the front edges of the leathers composing the connecting plate to bend the top layer to form an upstanding ledge on said arch in the plane of the rim of the collar and means to releasably connect the free end of said plate at different selective heights on the overlapped sides.

3. An adjustable open top horse collar, comprising wales having short top end portions of their inner and outer walls closed flatly together, meager quantities of long fibrous filling adjacent to the closed ends of said wales, intermixed lower down with a progressively increased quantity of short or cut fibrous filling and finally omitting the long filling, to form collar sides of increased pliability toward their top ends, in combination with an oblong laminate closing plateof firm harness leather having one end fastened exteriorly on the closed top end of one of the collar sides and adapted to be bent longitudinally fiatwise, at any intermediate point in its length, to form a substantially rigid arch to close the top of the collar and the less bent free end portion of said plate, when longer than required in the top adjustment adapted to be gripped and bent transversely into the outer groove of the overlapped collar side by the applied harness-hame, and means connected to releasably'fasten said free end of the closing plate at selective heights on said overlapped collar side.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

CHARLES ROSS. 

